LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) — Police in Virginia are investigating vandalism at a pregnancy center that discourages women from having an abortion. Lynchburg Police on Saturday said the Blue Ridge Pregnancy Center was spray painted with graffiti. The words “If abortion ain’t safe, you ain’t safe” were written on a walkway. Several windows were also broken.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Mississippi scored twice on wild pitches in a three-run eighth inning and the Rebels won their first national baseball title, sweeping Oklahoma in the College World Series finals with a 4-2 victory.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South African police are investigating the deaths of at least 21 people at a nightclub in the coastal town of East London Sunday and authorities say most of the victims were minors as young as 13-year-old. It is unclear what led to the deaths of the young people, who were reportedly attending a party to celebrate the end of winter school exams.

Editor's note: With tensions high following the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, here are recommendations from Brotherhood Mutual, a major insurer of churches, on how to handle demonstrations on church grounds.

MARIETTA, Ga. – Suzanne and Rachel Guy exude kindness. It shines in their eyes. It resonates in their voices. The mother-daughter duo from First Baptist Church in Woodstock have been on the frontlines of the battle over abortion for years, but their approach has been markedly different from the more militant pro-lifers often seen on television news programs in front of abortion clinics waving graphic signs and shouting hateful rhetoric.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court released a long-anticipated ruling on Friday that will ultimately put an end to abortions in in roughly half the states, including Georgia. "God has heard and answered our prayers on behalf of the most helpless of human beings," said W. Thomas Hammond, executive director of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board. "With this ruling, the Supreme Court has corrected a heart-wrenching injustice. Regrettably, it has taken nearly 50 years for this day to arrive, and at a cost of more than 63 million innocent lives.

Stocks rallied on Wall Street Friday, sending the S&P 500 up 3.1% for its best gain in two years. The benchmark index also ended the week 6.4% higher, erasing the brutal loss it took a week earlier. It was just the second winning week for the benchmark index in the last 12.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Alabama and Missouri are among the states seeking to enforce abortion bans in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.

CONSTANTA, Romania (AP) — With Ukraine’s seaports blockaded or captured by Russian forces, neighboring Romania’s Black Sea port of Constanta has emerged as a main conduit for the war-torn country’s grain exports amid a growing world food crisis. It’s Romania’s biggest port, home to Europe’s fastest-loading grain terminal, and has processed nearly a million tons of grain from Ukraine, one of the world’s biggest exporters of wheat and corn, since the Feb. 24 invasion.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A regional governor in eastern Ukraine says that the country's troops will retreat from a besieged city to avoid encirclement. The city of Sievierodonetsk, the administrative center of the Luhansk region, has faced relentless Russian bombardment.

GAYAN, Afghanistan (AP) — An aftershock took more lives and threatened to pile even more misery on an area of eastern Afghanistan reeling from a powerful earthquake that state media said killed 1,150 people this week.

BERLIN (AP) — The head of the United Nations has warned the world faces “catastrophe” because of the growing shortage of food around the globe. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the war in Ukraine has fueled an “unprecedented global hunger crisis” already affecting hundreds of millions of people.

BANGKOK (AP) — Shares are higher in Europe and Asia despite data suggesting some economies are slowing. U.S. futures also advanced after a rally Thursday on Wall Street, where the market is headed for its first weekly gain after three weeks of punishing losses.

ATHENS, Ga. – They’re older now with graying hair and laugh lines, but a group of retired missionaries who spent much of their lives delivering the gospel to Uruguay haven’t lost their passion for serving the Lord. Some 25 of them gathered with hugs and handshakes at Sabor Latino restaurant in Athens on Thursday to enjoy some Uruguayan cuisine while reminiscing about the good old days of preaching and teaching in cities and towns in the South American country of 3.5 million people.

BUFORD, Ga. (AP) — Shoe manufacturer Okabashi says it will hire 250 workers and invest $20 million to double production at its headquarters in suburban Atlanta. CEO Sara Irvani says the privately-held company will be able to make more than 2 million pairs of shoes annually at its Buford factory within five years.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Orlando Magic selected Duke freshman Paolo Banchero with the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. After leading the Blue Devils to the Final Four in coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final season, the 6-foot-10 forward was called first by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to begin the draft, beating out fellow first-year forwards Jabari Smith Jr. and Chet Holmgren.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — This month marks seven years since the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage with its Obergefell v. Hodges decision. Five years later, the 2020 American Community Survey from the United States Census Bureau estimated there were more than 570,000 same-sex married couple households in the United States.

Living Hope Supportive Maternal Residence, the first residence registered in accordance with “Betsy’s Law,” opened Tuesday. Pregnant women can stay at the home up to 18 months after their child is born, receiving support, care and a comfortable and safe place to live.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a major expansion of gun rights, the Supreme Court said Thursday that Americans have a right to carry firearms in public. The justices’ 6-3 decision follows a series of recent mass shootings and is expected to ultimately allow more people to legally carry guns on the streets of the nation’s largest cities — including New York, Los Angeles and Boston — and elsewhere. About a quarter of the U.S. population live in states expected to be affected by the ruling, the high court’s first major gun decision in more than a decade.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fewer Americans applied for jobless benefits last week as the U.S. job market remains robust despite myriad economic pressures, including four-decade high inflation. Applications for jobless aid for the week ending June 18 fell to 229,000, a decline of 2,000 from the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

SURFSIDE, Fla. (AP) — People have compared the survival of a teenage boy in one of the deadliest collapses in U.S. history to the Bible story of Jonah and the whale. At 16, Jonah Handler is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and the loss of his mother after falling from the 10th floor of the beachfront building that collapsed a year ago in Surfside, Florida, killing 98 people.

LONDON (AP) — After two years of pandemic restrictions, travel demand is back, but airlines and airports that slashed jobs during the depths of the COVID-19 crisis are struggling to keep up. With the busy summer tourism season underway in Europe, passengers are encountering chaotic scenes at airports, including lengthy delays, canceled flights and headaches over lost luggage.

Genesis 6:5-6 reveals the state of the world before the flood: “The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become … and His heart was filled with pain.”   A few verses later we read of all those living in the whole world there was one righteous man:  Noah.  He was blameless among the people, and he walked with God.  He was the only one. 

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Andrea Fuentes prevented a tragedy at the swimming world championships with her quick reaction. The United States coach knew something was wrong when she saw artistic swimmer Anita Alvarez sink motionless to the bottom of the pool during a solo free routine on Wednesday. The fully clothed Fuentes dived in. She swam to the unresponsive Alvarez, put her arms around her, and lifted her to the water’s surface.

DETROIT (AP) — Millions of Americans who rely on their cars for work are changing their habits, signing up for carpools or even ditching their cars for bicycles as gas prices recently hit $5 per gallon for the first time ever. This week, it’s averaging $4.95 per gallon nationwide, up from $3.06 per gallon a year ago, according to AAA.